Council leader says St George’s flag is ‘intimidating’ and flown by people with ‘unacceptable views’

We're in the midst of some aggressive patriotism

It began with the Lionesses and their UEFA Women's Euro 2025 triumph last month - beating Spain in a penalty shootout to claim consecutive tournament trophies - as proud English folk adorned their homes, vehicles and pubs with the red cross on white.

Skip to now and thousands upon thousands of lampposts have become vessels for flag-flying. Vandals are painting St. George colours onto mini-roundabouts too.

Addressing this 'explosion of patriotism', Liberal Democrat councillor Ireland told BBC: "It would be naive to pretend otherwise that the St. George's flag has been co-opted by certain far-right groups to promote their agendas. We will not be encouraging division in our communities."

In his eyes, there's an "underlying tension in the campaign that has been hijacked by people whose views, for me, are completely unacceptable. For me, patriotism means working hard to improve the lives of our communities, holding our institutions to account and making sure we live up to our values."

Stand up to Racism's joint secretary Sabby Dhalu pointed towards ulterior motives as well, commenting: "It's being encouraged by far-right groups and it's designed to make refugees, immigrants and people who were born here but have family from a different country, feel unwelcome."

Ireland went on to ask residents to display their pride "the right way" as repainting roundabouts is a "regrettable expense that would ultimately fall of taxpayers".

Meanwhile, Labour mayor for the West Midlands, Richard Parker, has a very similar outlook on showing your patriotic side.

"I am very supportive of anyone who wants to display their patriotism and passion for this country, while also being clear that we need to do that safely. If we are going to see more of this... we need to work with our public authorities in the region to make sure it is done in a safe way," he said.